Opistognathus eximius, Harlequin smiler

You can sponsor this page

Opistognathus eximius (Ogilby, 1908)

Harlequin smiler
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
Image of Opistognathus eximius (Harlequin smiler)
Opistognathus eximius
Picture by Brennan, L.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Ovalentaria/misc (Various families in series Ovalentaria) > Opistognathidae (Jawfishes)
Etymology: Opistognathus: Greek, opisthe = behind + Greek, gnathos = jaw (Ref. 45335); to the very elongate upper jaw of the type species of the genus, Opistognathus nigromarginatus (Ref. 128653);  eximius: Name from Latin 'eximius' meaning select, distinguished, uncommon, it was incorrectly stated in the original description to mean “beautiful,” but certainly it is an appropriate adjective for this species..
More on author: Ogilby.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 6 - 35 m (Ref. 128653). Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Pacific: Australia.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 28.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 128653)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 12; Vertebrae: 26. This species is distinguished by the following characters: with a rigid upper jaw lacking flexible lamina posteriorly, extending about 0.7 to 0.9 eye diameters behind posterior margin of orbit; infraorbitals are very slender and tubular, the third infraorbital very elongate with large suborbital shelf; D XI,13; A II,12; vertebrae 10+16; scales on the belly minute and distinctly embedded; body with about 80-99 scale rows in horizontal series; vomerine teeth 1-3. Colouration: opercle with a conspicuous dark spot; color of sides and anal blue with large yellow spots (Ref. 128653).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occur over sand bottom of the continental shelf (Ref. 75154). Mouthbrooders (Ref. 240). Eggs which are clumped together in a sticky egg ball inside the parent's mouth are sometimes released in a burrow during brief feeding periods (Ref. 40511).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Eggs which are clumped together in a sticky egg ball get incubated inside the parent's mouth (Ref. 40511).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Smith-Vaniz, W.F., 2023. Review of Indo-West Pacific jawfishes (Opistognathus: Opistognathidae), with descriptions of 18 new species. Zootaxa 5252(1):1-180. (Ref. 128653)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)


CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.8   ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (25 of 100).